Plot Summary, Synopsis, Review: IMDb
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hollywoodreporter.com:
«A lively though disjointed 3D cartoon that never quite entices an audience
to invest emotionally in its fantasy world. How to Train Your Dragon pits
dragons against Vikings with one small child standing between them crying, "Why
can't we all just get along?" The Vikings are all brawn and matted, bushy hair
-- and there's an implication of not much brains -- while the dragons are a
menagerie of fierce flying, fire-belching, multitasking creatures that fear and
are feared in equal measure. From this, DreamWorks Animation tries to fashion a
3D movie that will intrigue kids and adults alike but might play raggedly in
both camps. Despite its jocular title, the film contains intense action scenes
and violence, enough so that small children supplied a background of cries at
one recent screening. Nonetheless, opening week should find long lines in front
of cinemas. How favorably youngsters respond to the dragons might determine what
kind of legs the cartoon eventually will achieve. [...] The film's
calling card is action. The extended battles and flying sequences -- Hiccup
trains Toothless to allow the boy to ride him with a saddle -- provide plenty of
thrills. Indeed, the directors and their animation team really seem to perk up
during these bravado sequences. Otherwise, the visual element is disappointing.
Beyond the plasticity of the humans, the world of the story feels sketchy at
best. The cold, glum Norse Isle of Berk, where everyone lives -- borrowed from a
book series by British author Cressida Cowell -- grows wearisome, and its other
world, that of the dinosaurs, never comes to life. There is a wide array of
dragons flying through the air, but the film introduces them so quickly that you
never know one from the other. The film treats them with ambivalence as the
animators can't decide between ferocity or cuddliness. Toothless has a kind of
feline look, and the others look like they belong in a Chinatown parade.
Dragon reps a solid effort from DreamWorks, but the audience perhaps feels
the effort more than it should».